


Dogged Pursuit

by Quettaser



Category: Pod Save America (RPF)
Genre: Dogs, Friends With Benefits, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 13:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13055229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quettaser/pseuds/Quettaser
Summary: Two very important and very disruptive things were currently happening in Tommy’s life and they were going to drive him insane. Number one, he and Lovett had recently drunkenly hooked up after a rowdy postLovett Or Leave Itouting and number two, as a way to cope with number one, Tommy gotten himself a puppy.But that wasn’t fair to Lucca. Tommy had wanted a puppy for a while, but somewhere between Lovett’s flustered morning-after rush to leave Tommy’s place and Tommy gazing into the abyss, he’d ended up at a breeder asking about poodle mixes.





	Dogged Pursuit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Steph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steph/gifts).



> Thanks to M for the beta.

Two very important and very disruptive things were currently happening in Tommy’s life and they were going to drive him insane. Number one, he and Lovett had recently drunkenly hooked up after a rowdy post _Lovett Or Leave It_ outing and number two, as a way to cope with number one, Tommy gotten himself a puppy.

But that wasn’t fair to Lucca. Tommy had wanted a puppy for a while, but somewhere between Lovett’s flustered morning-after rush to leave Tommy’s place and Tommy gazing into the abyss, he’d ended up at a breeder asking about poodle mixes.

Everyone had their coping strategies and Tommy’s was constantly peeing on his hardwood floors.

Even that had been a manageable problem - vinegar and baking soda, sequentially - except that now Lovett was here in his house and Pundit and Lucca were not getting along and it was a nightmare. After rescuing Lucca from under the ottoman and locking Pundit in the kitchen, Lovett and Tommy were in the living room, trying to solve their problem. Well, their dog-related problem.

“So, you’re just going to have to get a new dog,” Jon said.

Tommy clutched Lucca tighter to his chest. “What happened to ‘Pundit is an angel?’ I don’t think chasing an innocent puppy under furniture is very angelic.”

Jon scoffed. “She must sense something wrong with your new best friend.”

“Nothing’s wrong with Lucca,” Tommy said, defensively petting her.

“Fine, fine,” Jon sighed. “Let’s solve this like adults,” he pulled his phone out of his pocket, “by googling a how-to guide.”

Tommy pulled out his phone too, cradling Lucca in his free arm. He pressed a bunch kisses to her head, momentarily distracted from racing Lovett to the best how-to guide.

“Okay,” Jon said, scrolling through his phone with purpose, “We need lots of dog treats and we basically need to slowly introduce them to each other. Like, feed them a treat when they’re in the same room and then separate. And then five minutes later, you do it again, but you let them be in the same room for a minute first. Then two minutes, five minutes, until they’re chill around each other.”

“I do have a ton of dog treats,” Tommy said.

Which was how Tommy and Jon spent the afternoon texting each other at set time intervals, retreating to their separate rooms with their dogs and then spending an increasing amount of time in the living room. It felt a little ridiculous, but by the third try, Pundit wasn’t try to chase Lucca and Lucca had become a lot less concerned with Pundit’s existence.

Jon had played the first minute of Who Let the Dogs Out? on the Sonos in celebration.

So things were going fine. Tommy wasn’t going to blurt out his feelings about their hookup and their dogs weren’t fighting. Until their fifth attempt. Tommy was sitting on the floor with Lucca between his stretched out legs and Jon was on the other side of the room, Pundit on a short leash. Jon was more concerned with reading Tommy his mentions than watching Pundit, which was how she ended up slipping away from Jon’s hold to run up to Lucca, sniffing her all over.

“Uhh, does the guide say anything about this?” Tommy asked, whispering. He didn’t want a loud noise to startle either dog.

“I don’t know,” Lovett whispered back.

Twenty tense seconds passed, both of them watching as the two dogs sniffed at each other. Then Lucca placed her paw on Pundit’s nose.

All hell broke loose. Pundit growled, Lucca squealed and both Tommy and Jon lunged for their dogs. There was some frantic yelling and then Tommy was in the office and he was sure Jon had taken Pundit to the kitchen.

 _okay maybe we need to change tactics_ , was the text Tommy got from Jon.

Tommy tried to soothe Lucca with one hand as he replied, _is the new tactic you go home and we stop torturing our dogs for the day?_

 _NO_ was quickly followed by, _wait, really?_

Tommy sighed to himself. _meet me on neutral ground. I have to bring Lucca so leave your demon child in the kitchen_

The notification for Jon’s reply, _AN ANGEL TOMMY_ , popped up as Tommy was heading back into the living room. Jon was already sitting on the couch.

“Okay, new tactic,” Jon said without looking away from his phone. “This website says we should take them on a walk together.”

“I feel like just one walk isn’t going to fix things.”

“But it might,” Jon said with an optimism that Tommy normally only saw as sarcastic. It was confusing.

“Alright, I’ll try it,” Tommy acquiesced. And so they went on a walk, the two of them and their two dogs. It was maybe the slowest walk Tommy had gone on, since Lucca’s tiny legs couldn’t go very fast for very long, but Jon was insistent that they make a full circle of the neighborhood.

Tommy wondered if Jon was going to bring up the hook up himself, the walk was nice neutral territory, lots of space, no pressure, but it never happened. They talked about work stuff instead, the lastest news, the latest hire and what kind of brand of pens they wanted to commit to for the office. Tommy couldn’t tell if he was disappointed. 

About two thirds through the walk, Tommy had to carry Lucca just to make sure she made it back to his place okay. She was still such a little thing. But he could tell that Jon was still nervous about their dogs getting along. As soon as they were done their walk and Lucca was settled in her crate and Pundit was once again confined to the kitchen, Tommy turned to Jon, who was in the middle of monologuing about what UberEats to order.

“Why are you so stressed about this?” Tommy asked, sitting on the opposite end of the couch from Jon.

“I’m not stressed, I’m just not feeling Indian today.”

“Not about the food. The dogs.” That got Jon to put his phone down. Tommy felt like that was enough of a victory. “You know we don’t actually have to solve this today. They’ll get to know each other eventually and things will calm down.”

Jon waved his hands dramatically. “Oh, _now_ you want to know?”

“Of fucking course I do, asshole, we’re friends.” At least, Tommy still hoped they were, complications from their hook up aside. But maybe friends wasn’t the right word to describe how Tommy had felt that night, Jon in his lap, in his mouth, in, well, in lots of places. The things Tommy had remembered saying on Jon’s skin, that wasn’t just friendship. Tommy fought down the flush he could feel creeping up towards his ears.

“But how long can we be friends if our dogs don’t get along?” Jon was saying. “We’ll hang out less than we already do and it’s clear you don’t want to talk to me since… the thing happened.”

“The thing?” Tommy asked. He wanted to make Jon say it. He was the one who had left. Fuck if Tommy was going to do the heavy lifting here. If Jon was going to reject him, no way Tommy was going to set him up for it. 

Jon got up from the couch and started pacing around the room. Lucca followed at his heels. “I still can’t fucking believe you went a bought a puppy instead of, I don’t know, being a goddamned adult and talking to me after we hooked up. Are you _that_ starved for affection?”

“You’re the one who left in a rush that morning. Did you hate it that much?” Tommy knew he sounded bitter, he didn’t care.

“Hate it? I was hungover as fuck and the last thing I was ready for was talk to Thomas Vietor in all his post-hook up glow about my dumb feelings.” Jon’s hands were in full rant mode.

Tommy scoffed, “Your dumb feelings? What about mine? The next time we talked, it was about what kind cream cheese we were getting with the office bagels.”

Jon stopped his pacing and Lucca bumped into his leg. He bent down to pick her up and seeing her cradled in Lovett’s arms sent a tiny thrill through Tommy. God, he was a mess. “I’m sorry if my leaving bruised your pride,” Jon said with a sarcastic sneer. “I’ll try to be more considerate next time.”

“No, you jerk, I _like_ you,” Tommy said, exasperated. “I thought I made that was pretty clear that night.”

“I, uhh,” Jon stuttered. He put Lucca down again and looked around the room at all of the places Tommy wasn’t. “I’ve kind of been trying not to remember it, what with the chance of the memories crushing my delicate ego.”

Tommy laughed at his own terrible taste and covered his face with his hands. “Your ego’s not delicate. It’s battle-tested. World-weary, even.”

“So wait, you really like me? Like that wasn’t a drunken one time thing?”

Tommy let his hands slide down his face so he could watch Jon squirming under the weight of both his feelings and the thought that he might have read a situation wrong. It was satisfying and it made Tommy want to hug him. Conflicting urges, but they weren’t entirely at odds. He nodded and said, “Yeah. I like you. Ass.”

“I’m sorry,” Jon said to Lucca before facing Tommy. “Your puppy is very cute. I don’t hate her.” He sighed. “And probably Pundit doesn’t either. Or she won’t, eventually.”

“Thanks,” Tommy said. “I don’t hate you or your dog either. We can probably work on that.”

“Good,” Jon said. “I’m gonna have to buy more dog treats.” He grabbed his phone and typed something quickly. He slipped it back into his pocket and looked up at Tommy, “Want to order thai, watch Dog Whisperer and make out on the couch?”

Tommy laughed. “Sounds like a plan.”


End file.
